Process for casing tobacco leaves



Jan. 21, 1941. H. s. BOGATY PROCESS FOR CASING TOBACCO LEAVES Filed Oct. 22, 1957 Patented Jan. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES rnooass FOR. oAsiNo'roBAooo LEAVES Hermann S. Bogaty, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Proctor & schwartz lnc Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania.

Application October 22, 1937, Serial No. 170,444 Claims. (01. 131 -14 0) This invention relates to what is known in the tobacco industry as casing, i. e. the treatment of tobacco leaves which are to be used as cigar wrappers, particularly outside wrappers.

The tobacco leaves which are to be used as cigar wrappers are cased to soften them, in order that the stems may be readily removed and in order that the leaves will be sufficiently pliable to enable them to be handled and wrapped firmly around the filler tobacco of the cigar without cracking or breaking the wrappers.

Tobacco leaves are normally received by the cigar makers in bunches, i. e. a number of leaves are arranged together with the tips extending in the same direction and with the stem or stalk ends of the leaves bound and tied firmly together. The tip ends of the bunches are known as the tails and the stem ends as the heads'of the bundles,

r Prior to the present invention the casing of the tobacco leaves has been accomplished manually. The bundles have been dipped, heads down, into a tank of water. Holding the bundles by the heads after withdrawing them from the water,

the caser would shake the bundles a few times to loosen up the leaves and to throw off excess moisture from the leaves. After dipping and shaking, the bundles were stacked on tables, heads down and tails up. The stacks were then covered with damp cloths and allowed to stand for a predetermined length of time, for example, over night, to permit the moisture to spread through the tobacco. At the end of the specified time the damp cloths were removed and the tobacco inspected. The inspection usually showed that as a result of the dipping, shaking and stacking operations some of the bundles were too wet While others had not absorbed enough moisture to make them usable for the purpose for which they were intended. The under-moist bundles were necessarily redipped and the whole course of procedure repeated. I

The above noted primitive method of casing was not only expensive but it resulted in non- 45 uniformity of moisture content in the tobacco leaves. In some instances the tobacco would contain a considerable amount of excess moisture in what is termed as free water. This free water has a tendency to darken the leaves and to form water marks thereon. The water marks and discoloration are extremely objectionable and result in many leaves being rejected asuns-uitable for first grade cigar wrappers. Such leaves must be disposed of at a reduced price for use in the making of cigars of the lower qualities.

For the making of the more expensive grades of cigars, manufacturers offer premiums to the tobacco growers, for leaves of light shades. Under the old casing method, uncased leaves which normally would meet this first grade requirement frequently lose value by being darkened and spotted during the casing operation.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a process for casing cigar wrapper tobacco leaves which will eliminate the objections above noted.

The principles of the present invention are based on the discovery that if tobacco leaves are maintained in cool moist air for a sufficiently long time the leaves will naturally absorb the correct amount of moisture for proper handling, without marking or darkening the leaves. The time required however, makes the natural absorption method too slow for commercial practicability. According to the principles of the present invention, the natural absorption of the tobacco leaves is accelerated by first subjecting the bundles to warm humid air in circulation. By initially warming the tobacco leaves the cellular structure of the leaves is caused to expand, in which condition the leaves are more readily susceptible to the absorption of moisture.

After the tobacco leaves have become thorough- 1y warmed the circulating air is cooled. This causes the moisture in the air to be absorbed rapidly by tobacco leaves.

It has been found that if the tobacco leaves are subjected to constant vibration or shaking during the whole or a substantial portion of the warming and the cooling operation the rate of absorption of the moisture by the tobacco leaves will 'be materially increased and that no drops of free water will collect on the leaves, therefore the leaves will not darken or become water marked.

It has also been found that absolute uniformity from head to tail of each bundle can be assured by alternately reversing the direction of the circulating air, i. e. by blowing the air, during one part of the operation, from the tails toward the heads of the bundles and, during subsequent part of the operation, from the heads toward the tails, or by intermittently reversing the direction of flow, throughout the whole of the casing operation.

Apparatus for carrying out the casing method according to the principles of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawing of which; I V Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional elevation of the apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

In the apparatus shown, the heads B of the bundles Aare secured to sticks lb, which are arranged side by side, parallel to each other, around the peripheries of a pair of axially spaced wheels 55 and 56, to form a drum 51. The drum 51 is provided with an axially extending shaft 58 which is rotatably mounted in bearings 59 and 60 carried by the side wall 9b and partition [b of the casing chamber 3b. The impeller 3b in this instance is mounted upon a shaft which is axially aligned with the shaft 58 of the tobacco supporting drum 51. The impeller lab revolves in a vertical plane, in an opening 6| formed in the partition I01) which separates the casing chamber 3?) from the circulating chamber [2b. Heating units I9b, I9b are providedin the circulating compartment 12b above and below the impeller I8b, i. e. between the impeller and the openings [32) and lb respectively, adjacent the upper and lower portions of the casing chamber 3?). Refrigerating units b, 201) are provided in the air passages [3b and l5b respectively; and spray pipes Ho and 2217 are provided in the compartment |2b adjacent the upper and lower edges [db and l 51) of the partition I01).

The shaft 53 of the tobacco supporting drum 5! may be connected with any suitablesource of power by which the drum 5'! may be rotated continuously in one direction, or first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, or intermittently to a predetermined extent forwardly and a, lesser extent backwardly, or merely oscillated forwardly and backwardly to the same extent, to produce shaking of the bundles A while air, warmed or cooled and moist, is circulated axially and radially through the drum 5'! to drive the air from the heads B toward the tails of the bundles A or in reverse direction as above noted.

The drum 5! may be rotated at a sufilciently high rate of speed to cause the leaves to extend radially outward from the drum axis by centrifugal force while the impeller [8b is rotated alternately in opposite directions, causing the air to move radially outward and radially inward, alternately, through and between the bunches of leaves, longitudinally of the individual leaves.

One end, 55 for example, of the drum 5'! may be provided with one or more projections or cam pieces 65 arranged to be engaged by a freely swinging weight 66 which, as the drum revolves will hang downwardly and strike the projections 65, with 'just sufiicient force to shake or jar the drum and the leaves supported thereby, to eliminate excess moisture from the leaves.

I claim:

1. The process of casing tobacco leaves which consists in spreading a mass of leaves around and with their main stems substantially radial to a common center and with the butt ends of the stems pointing inwardly, securing said butt ends in said relationship against relative lateral and radial movement within an enclosure containing air, warming said air to expand the cellular structure of said leaves, introducing moisture into said air for absorption by said expanded cellular leaf structure, subsequently cooling said air to contract said structure andseal said absorbed moisture within the cells of said structure, and maintaining said mass in circular motion exclusively about said center during said expansion and contraction to facilitate said absorption and to expele'xcess moisture from. said leaves.

2. The process of casing tobacco leaves which consists in spreading a mass of leaves around andwith their main stems substantially radial to a common center and with the butt ends of the stems pointing inwardly, securing said butt ends in said relationship against'relative lateral and radial move'ment'withih an enclosure containing air, circulating said air substantially radially through said mass, warming said air in circulation to expand the cellular structure of said leaves, introducing moisture into said air for absorption by said expanded cellular leaf structure, subsequently cooling said air to contract said structure and seal said absorbed moisture within the cells of said structure, and maintaining said mass in circular motion exclusively about said center during said expansion and contraction to facilitate said absorption and to expel excess moisture from said leaves.

3. The process of casing tobacco leaves which consists in spreading a mass of leaves around and with their main stems substantially radial to a common center and with the butt ends of the ste s pointing inwardly, securing said butt ends in said relationship against relative lateral and radial movement with an enclosure containing air, circulating said air alternately in opposite 20 directions substantially radially through said mass, warming said air in circulation to expand the cellular structure of said leaves, introducing moisture into said air for absorption by said expanded cellular leaf structure, subsequently cooling said air to contract said structure and seal said absorbed moisture within the cells of said structure, and maintaining said mass in circular motion exclusively about said center during said expansion and contraction to facilitate said absorption and to expel excess moisture from said leaves.

4. The process of casing tobacco leaves which consists in spreading a mass of leaves around and with their main stems substantially radial to 'a common center and with the butt ends of the stems pointing inwardly, securing said butt ends in said relationship against relative lateral and radial movement within an enclosure containing air, warming said air to expand the cellular structure of said leaves, introducing moisture into said air for absorption by said expanded cellular leaf structure, subsequently cooling said air to contract said structure and seal said absorbed moisture within the cells of said structure, and maintaining said mass in circular motion exclus'ively about said center at a speed sufiicient to cause the free outer ends of the leaves to be extended radially under the actions of centrifugal force set up by said motion of the mass about said center during said expansion and contraction to facilitate said absorption and to expel excess moisture from said leaves.

5. The process of casing tobacco leaves which consists in spreading a mass of leaves around and with their main stems substantially radial to a common center and with the butt ends of the stems pointing inwardly, securing said butt ends in said relationship against relative lateral and radial movement within an enclosure containin air, warming said air to expand the cellular structure of said'leaveaintroducin g moisture into said air for absorption by said expanded cellular leaf structure, subsequently cooling said air to contract said structure and-seal said absorbed moisture within the cellsof said structure, maintaining said massin circular motionexclusively about said center during said expansion and 'contraction and periodically jarringthe mass during said circular motion thereof tofacilitate said absorption and to expel excess moisture from said leaves.

HERMANN S. BOGATY. 

